Book Review: The Anti-Anxiety Food Solution

I read this book this morning. For me, I think it was slightly misleading. I was hoping to read about specific foods and what they could do to chemically help balance anxiety, and to encourage an even blood sugar etc....There was no real new information in there as far as my own knowledge is concerned. Her basic formula for reducing anxiety is:

- sensible eating

- eliminating junk food 

- reducing sugar, caffeine and alcohol

- quitting smoking 

- exercising daily

- practicing relaxation

She offers 4 different elimination diets to try: 

1. Gluten-free

2. Gluten and Dairy-free

3. Grain and Dairy-free 

4. Eating sensibly

The only reason, she states, that she mentions eliminating gluten and dairy, is because they are "known allergens"...not really because they've been proven to reduce anxiety.

Though I do agree that doing an elimination diet is a good thing, I personally already did it for just shy of one year during 2011 and 2012. I did it for an IBS diagnosis that was apparently incurable, which of course, I cured. So I really do believe in the correlation between health and what we put into our bodies. Of course it's true that uneven blood sugar can mimic anxiety and panic symptoms, so if any of these particular foods are really an allergy or intolerance for you, it's important to see by eliminating them for a while. I think it's too subjective to make a blanket statement that these foods are bad for you anyway.

She talks about supplements too and one tiny little paragraph got me thinking about looking in to seeing if I have adrenal fatigue. My biggest problem is that my "fight or flight" reaction doesn't work. If I'm in a car accident, it works to help me survive and think straight...get myself to safety. That is how it SHOULD work. But my fight or flight goes off as it wishes when I'm under stress. My body and mind thinks I'm in grave danger when I'm not. She talks about this as adrenal fatigue, but doesn't really go into it, only offers other book references, so I'll be researching that further.

Just on that note, 40 pages at the end are dedicated to references and resources. That turned my nose a little as that represents 1/4 of the book!

She does suggest a few things that I've never heard suggested before, such as drinking homemade broth often, eating more sprouts (which I ordered yesterday!) and adding more fermented foods to your diet - those things I did appreciate reading about. They add probiotics to also help poor digestion which sometimes masks itself as anxiety.

Other than that, her book is very neutral. Suggestion, then subtle warnings, then an implied "try it yourself" suggestion. It's almost as if she's writing to avoid a future lawsuit lol...am I bashing her? I'm really not trying to, I just didn't like her style I guess. She has questionnaires to answer to see if you "might" have x, y, or z type of anxiety or deficiency...but honestly? According to her questions and evaluation, I have everything in the book lol, so it's hard to take very seriously.

If you've never done an elimination diet before and want to see if a certain food is harmful to you; or if you need some more information about supplements, this book could be of use. But fundamentally she just states what we kind of all know but don't always do: eat fruits, veggies, whole grains, good fats and lean proteins for a healthy mind and body...eliminate junk and don't have bad habits... make sure to exercise, be active and practice relaxation daily.